Today we are joined by Fresh Fiction Senior Reviewer Miranda Owen:
I am a widowed lady, well past the age of innocence.
Why should I not kiss a handsome man in a drawing room? A little carnality
won’t hurt me.
- THE MADNESS OF
LORD IAN MACKENZIE by Jennifer Ashley
I find stories with a widowed heroine particularly compelling.
For good or bad, marriage and living with somebody play a huge role in your
life, and how you
function every day. In a good marriage, your partner enhances your life – in
small ways and big
ways. If you have the misfortune to be in a bad marriage, it sours many
aspects of your life. In
different ways, stories about women who have loved and lost, as well as
stories about women
who have endured until being set free by a spouse’s death, are equally
fascinating.
In stories where there was some affection between the
husband and wife, an author tries to convey the love that existed and how
the wife is left to
pick up the pieces. One of the first stories I read with a widowed heroine
was THE
MADNESS OF LORD IAN MACKENZIE by
Jennifer Ashley. In Jennifer Ashley’s story, you get the sense that Beth and
her husband didn’t
have a wild and all-encompassing passion like with her eventual second
marriage, but she did
love her husband and his presence and the memory of the love they shared
stays with her. It’s
because she’s known romantic love that Ian MacKenzie asks her to educate him
about the
subject, and help him understand it. THE MADNESS OF LORD IAN
MACKENZIE is an example of a story illustrating
how a person’s capacity for love is infinite, and that a love that you have
for one person can be
very different than the love you have for somebody else, but that it’s
equally valid and life-
changing.
In FLAT-OUT SEXY by Erin McCarthy, Tamara Briggs loved her late
husband but over the years
she’s revaluated her opinion of their life together as she’s grown. When she
was married to
Pete, they had fun together, but she was younger and not as strong-willed or
confident. As
she’s gotten older and had to be a single mother, Tamara has gotten stronger
and changed
her opinion of what kind of man and the romantic relationship she needs in
her life. In
FLAT-OUT SEXY, Erin
McCarthy tells a
very sexy story about how a woman’s needs change over time as she evolves,
and the slightly
younger hot -- yet surprisingly mature -- guy who gives Tamara everything
she needs.
In DEVIL’S DAUGHTER by Lisa Kleypas, Phoebe and her late husband
Henry were sweet
on each other from the time they were very young. That’s a slightly
different dynamic than the
other marriages mentioned. Having that longstanding friendship adds extra
depth to their
relationship and therefore an added layer of grief. When Phoebe eventually
starts taking
notice of the very attractive West Ravenel, the contrast between the very
masculine and vital
West and the very delicate Henry is somewhat startling for Phoebe. Like
Tamara in FLAT-
OUT SEXY, Phoebe has to come to terms in her
own mind with how starting over with someone new isn’t a betrayal but is
just a natural by-
product of her evolution. She was happy with Henry, but being with West
satisfies the person
she has become.
How long he’d hoped that after she dealt with Ian’s
ghost she would one day turn to him. Her confession of her relationship with
Ian while they sat
in the tree had been one step…and yet still it wasn’t enough. He wanted
everything: her trust,
her joy, her heart, her vulnerability. - ROMANCING THE COUNTESS
by Ashley
March
The other type of widows are the ones who are blessedly
relieved by their husband’s passing, or downright giddy. ROMANCING THE COUNTESS
by Ashley
March is one of my favorite novels because I find the characters so
riveting. This story actually
has a widowed heroine and a widower hero who eventually get together after
the death of
their spouses who wronged them. Ashley March expertly, and often
heartbreakingly, captures
the complexity of emotions that death can bring. Although Leah’s late
husband cheated on
her, she feels more than just anger. Because of the way he betrayed her, and
his messed up
way of trying to make things right, he made things worse for his wife
emotionally. Over the
course of the book, Leah tries to work out what she truly feels, and how she
wants to express
her feelings and move on from the hurt and betrayal. Sebastian was equally
wronged by his
late wife but his issues are slightly different. The two embark on a
difficult path of trying to
sort through their emotions to figure out what they feel for each other
versus what they feel
for their late spouses. Ashley March tells a very real narrative about two
flawed people while
still creating sexual tension that is exquisite and includes some of the
most psychologically
erotic scenes I’ve ever read.
Mary Balogh has written a number of stories about widows
and each one is unique. In
SOMEONE TO TRUST, Elizabeth Overfield’s first marriage was a disaster
because of her abusive husband.
Her reluctance to wed again stems not so much from a fear of men, but a lack
of faith in her
ability to pick the right companion. When she meets Colin, he is absolutely
not what she’s
looking for but he’s absolutely what she needs. Elizabeth is beauty and
caring combined, and
exactly the opposite of his estranged mother. Colin is a little younger than
her, but he’s charming, sweet-
natured, and a delightful breath of fresh air. Colin initially worries that
he’ll never be able to
compete with the memory of Elizabeth’s beloved husband, and it’s a wonderful
moment when
he finally discovers the true nature of her marriage.
Additional books with widows:
WHEN
HE WAS WICKED by Julia Quinn
MOONLIGHT SCANDALS
by Jennifer L. Armentrout
ONLY A KISS by Mary
Balogh
THE IDEAL BRIDE by
Stephanie Laurens
WHAT A WIDOW WANTS
by Jenna
Jaxon
IN THE
THRILL OF THE NIGHT by Candice
Hern
LOVE
WITH THE PERFECT SCOUNDREL by Sophia
Nash
THE WARY WIDOW
by Jerrica Knight-Catania
WHY
EARLS FALL IN LOVE by Manda Collins
ROCKY MOUNTAIN HAVEN
by Vivian
Arend
THE
HARLOT COUNTESS by Joanna Shupe
THE
COUNTESS CONSPIRACY by Courtney
Milan
BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND
DESIRE by
Lorraine Heath
THE
LADY IN QUESTION by Victoria
Alexander
A
DEVIL IN SCOTLAND by Suzanne
Enoch
AN
IMPROPER ENCOUNTER by Erica Taylor
THE
ACCIDENTAL VAMPIRE by Lynsay
Sands
***
BOOKS FEATURED IN THIS ARTICLE:
Highland
Pleasures #1
It was whispered all through London Society that he was a murderer, that
he’d spent his youth
in an asylum and was not to be trusted - especially with a lady. Any woman
caught in his
presence was immediately ruined. Yet Beth found herself inexorably drawn to
the Scottish lord
whose hint of a brogue wrapped around her like silk and whose touch could
draw her into a
world of ecstasy. Despite his decadence and intimidating intelligence, she
could see he
needed help. Her help. Because suddenly the only thing that made sense to
her was...
THE
MADNESS OF LORD IAN MACKENZIE
Romance Historical [Berkley, On Sale: August
2, 2011, Paperback / e-Book (reprint), ISBN: 9780425244463 / eISBN:
9781101529317]
A breathtaking
adventure into the mind of a madman and his heart!
Fast Track #1
“One of the romance writing industry’s brightest stars”(Romance
Reviews Today)
returns with a flat-out delightful, new, and sexy contemporary romance about
a woman who’s
happy being single—and the man determined to change her mind.Independent single mother Tamara Briggs wanted to find a new, sexy, no-
strings-attached
man—just not one as young as NASCAR driver Elec Monroe. But he sure does get
her heart
racing. And after she’s tricked into a blind date with him, Tamara gives in
to her passion.
Things screech to a halt, though, when he asks to meet her children.
Whatever happened to
wham-bam-thank-youma’am? Suddenly Tamara has to decide how much risk she’s
willing to
take to experience the power of true love.
Romance Contemporary [Berkley, On Sale:
June 1, 2010, Paperback / e-Book (reprint), ISBN: 9780425235171 / eISBN:
9781440631665]
***
Ravenals #5 /
Wallflowers
The Ravenels meet The WallflowersNew York Times bestselling author Lisa Kleypas combines the worlds
of the
Wallflowers with the Ravenels in this incredible story of Lord St. Vincent
and Evie Jenner’s
daughter, who falls for the last man any respectable woman should want:
notorious rake West
Ravenel.
Although beautiful, young widow Phoebe, Lady Clare, has never met West
Ravenel, she knows
one thing for certain: he’s a mean, rotten bully. Back in boarding school,
he made her late
husband’s life a misery, and she’ll never forgive him for it. But when
Phoebe attends a family
wedding, she encounters a dashing and impossibly charming stranger who sends
a fire-and-
ice jolt of attraction through her. And then he introduces himself...as none
other than West
Ravenel.
West is a man with a tarnished past. No apologies, no excuses. However, from
the moment he
meets Phoebe, West is consumed by irresistible desire...not to mention the
bitter awareness
that a woman like her is far out of his reach. What West doesn’t bargain on
is that Phoebe is
no strait-laced aristocratic lady. She’s the daughter of a strong-willed
wallflower who long ago
eloped with Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent—the most devilishly wicked rake in
England.
Before long, Phoebe sets out to seduce the man who has awakened her fiery
nature and
shown her unimaginable pleasure. Will their overwhelming passion be enough
to overcome the
obstacles of the past?
Only the devil’s daughter knows…
Romance Historical [Avon, On Sale: February
19, 2019, Mass Market Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780062371935 / eISBN:
9780062371928]
A devil of a good
time with enchanting characters and a delicious romance!
***
Sebastian Madinger, the Earl of Wriothesly, thought he'd married the perfect
woman-until a
fatal accident revealed her betrayal with his best friend. After their
deaths, Sebastian is
determined to avoid a scandal for the sake of his son. But his best friend's
widow is just as
determined to cast her mourning veil aside by hosting a party that will
surely destroy both
their reputations and expose all of his carefully kept secrets...
Leah George has carried the painful knowledge of her husband's affair for
almost a year. All
she wants now is to enjoy her independence and make a new life for herself-
even if that
means being ostracized by the Society whose rules she was raised to obey.
Now that the
rumors are flying, there's only one thing left for Sebastian to do: silence
the scandal by
enticing the improper widow into becoming a proper wife. But when it comes
to matters of the
heart, neither Sebastian nor Leah is prepared for the passion they discover
in each other's
arms....
Romance Historical [Signet Eclipse, On Sale:
September 6, 2011, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780451234513 / ]
Victorian
romance readers will love this charming novel
***
Westcott #5
During a rare white Christmas at Brambledean Court, the widow Elizabeth,
Lady Overfield,
defies convention by falling in love with a younger man in the latest novel
in the Westcott
series.After her husband's passing, Elizabeth Overfield decides that she must enter
into another
suitable marriage. That, however, is the last thing on her mind when she
meets Colin Handrich,
Lord Hodges, at the Westcott Christmas house party. She simply enjoys his
company as they
listen to carolers on Christmas Eve, walk home from church together on
Christmas morning,
and engage in a spirited snowball fight in the afternoon. Both are surprised
when their sled
topples them into a snowbank and they end up sharing an unexpected kiss.
They know there
is no question of any relationship between them, for she is nine years older
than he.
They return to London the following Season, both committed to finding other,
more suitable
matches. Still they agree to share one waltz at each ball they attend. This
innocuous
agreement proves to be one that will topple their worlds, as each dance
steadily ensnares
them in a romance that forces the two to question what they are willing to
sacrifice for love. . .
.
Romance Historical | Romance Holiday [Berkley, On Sale:
November 27, 2018, Mass Market Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780399586101 /
eISBN:
9780399586118]
Superlative
storytelling, with charismatic characters, and an enchanting love story!
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